Earlier this morning, I came across a discussion over the argument of whether or not to pierce a baby's ears. A disgruntled reader wrote to the Dear Mary Ann column at the Pittsburgh Post Gazette voicing her opinion on the issue -- she thinks it's borderline child abuse.

And you know what? I think I have to agree with her on this one.
Because piercing a baby girl's ears not only seems mean and cruel to me
-- it also just seems so vain and unnecessary.

Here you have this perfect little angel who is sugar and spice and
everything nice -- and you want to go pierce two tiny holes through her
earlobes and cause her pain simply because you think she'll look cute in a pair of heart-shaped studs?

Yes, I know putting it that way sounds a little bit extreme, but it's a pretty accurate description.

My mother took me to get my ears pierced when I was in the fourth
grade, I believe -- and I still remember how bad it hurt when that
piercing gun went through my skin. And I also remember what a pain it
was to keep my earlobes clean and to turn the earrings every day so the
holes wouldn't close up.

If it was that bad for a fourth grader (who willingly got her ears pierced), I can't even imagine what a drag having pierced ears must be for a baby.

And that brings us to the whole problem of ear pulling. Aren't
parents afraid that their poor baby girls are going to reach up to itch
the fresh wounds on their earlobes -- only to accidentally pull out the
earring and hurt themselves further in the process? (It could happen.)
Or what if they get infected?

I know it's fun to have a little girl and dress her up and all that,
but piercing her ears before she even knows how to stand up just seems
so ridiculous to me, in addition to being pretty inhumane.

Heck, it's bad enough when we have to take our babies to the doctor
to get a shot, and that's necessary for their health. Why on earth would
ANY parent subject their little one to having needles stuck in her for
the sake of vanity?

For some, like us for example, it's not about baby looking cute. My husband is Egyptian, piercing a baby girl's ears is cultural. In Egypt it's done before they leave the hospital. Boys are circumcised and girls have their ears pierced. In the US of course you have to wait longer. Our first dd had her ears pierced at 4 months. The dd I'm pregnant with will as well.

Also, piercing her ears young has meant that dd is used to them and doesn't play with or tug at them. Cleaning and turning them wasn't hard either. She's two now and loves them.

I did my DD's when she was 6 months. She didn't play with her ears and they weren't that hard to take care of. The way I see it is if she gets older and doesn't want it then she can take them out and be done. I had mine done when I was 6 and I actually wished my mom would have had them done when I was a baby.

Likening ear piercing to child abuse really sounds ridiculous imo. Some people choose to piece their kids ears and have that right. Others choose to molest and beat their kids and you would really call it the same thing? Get a grip.

It's a lot less pain than circumcision and thats for vanity.... it's also not as bad as stabbing multiple needles in a kid every few months. Its not that much up keep.. no different than bathing or changing a diaper. I don't remember the pain of having my ears pierced and I had 2 by 9yo. I barely 'remember the pain of tattoos. Piercings are a personal choice just like anything else. Its not cruel and mean. If it is... so is the stabbing and poking of babies who end up screaming bloody murder... or taking a kids temp the mean way. Oh but that's for health reason *eye roll*... piercings are just vain and unnecessary. So are pretty little tutus but they're cute and we still like seeing them on little girls.

That's your opinion and if tour company had a written rule about the age and it wasn't up to you then you should have been fired. Don't tell other people what to do with their kids when it's not illegal.

Quoting Anonymous:

I used to pierce ears in the mall, I refused to do children under 4, I think it's unnecessary.